andrewesque

Airlines for America (which is not a group I would think would under-estimate the number of air travelers) says that the average American took 2.1 trips per year in 2016. EDITED TO CORRECT: these are round-trips, so that's 4.2 flights per year. I think the number is up since 2016, but probably not by 2+ flights.

In addition, over half (55%) of Americans did not take a single flight in 2016, and even just looking at air travelers, 50% of those take 1 or 2 round-trips per year. So if we're talking about Americans who take 3 or more trips via air per year, that's less than a quarter of the population (50% of the 45% who do fly, so 50% * 45% = 22.5%). Certainly not a tiny number of people, about 72 million (22.5% of the 323 million US population in 2016), but not an overwhelming majority of Americans by any means.

AADFW

Never said it was an "overwhelming majority." But even just under one fourth of the total U.S. population is more than enough to wield significant influence over the way airports are designed and used. And it certainly doesn't mitigate the complete absurdity of the notion that American passengers "have no choice in how they access planes."

andrewesque

Fair enough. Though I still think that the percentage of people that actually care about the bus gate issue would be much smaller than the fourth of the population who fly with some frequency, and I was originally posting because the 6.5 flights/year figure seemed doubtful.

AADFW

Claims about these data are rather mixed, but 22% actually seems low to me. Here's an article from 2016 on the subject: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielr...han-you-think/

andrewesque

My stats are in agreement with the article -- the 22% was my calculation of those Americans who take 3 or more round-trips per year:

Their first quote "Nearly half of all Americans – 45 percent - flew aboard a commercial airliner last year" matches the "over half (55%) of Americans did not take a single flight in 2016" statement I made.

To clarify:

• 55% of Americans did not fly in 2016
• 22.5% of Americans flew, but took 1 or 2 round trips
• 22.5% of Americans flew, taking 3 or more round trips

The latter two add up to the 45% of Americans who flew in 2016.

Jinxed_K

Thought this thread was going to be about people who wait at the gate before their group is called...

I'm inclined to agree with this, especially for new airports/terminals.
From an operator's point of view, it's probably a lot easier to accommodate (for example) a wheelchair by having the plane wait for a gate/jetway and roll it to the door than having a lift or ramp vehicle on standby at a hardstand for that 'just in case it gets routed there' moments when a gate is not available. Not to mention the staff training and the need for a ground level/accessible door at the terminal which connects securely to Immigration/Customs if required.

I don't see an issue with moving a plane to a hardstand if the airport is already equipped to handle embarking/disembarking from the ground, but I can't see airports building new hardstands just so a plane doesn't have to wait for a gate/jetway when they're full at the time of touchdown.

bitterproffit

Why do non Americans tolerate bus gates?

I would rather sit in a plane for 5-10 minutes waiting for a gate (the most I can recall ever waiting) than to walk down stairs with carryon, stand in either a freezing wet bus, or steamy hot bus until it’s full to the brim, then drive another 5-10 minutes to the terminal.

My last bus gate at FRA, we waiting in a hot stuffy crowded bus with the doors shut in front of the plane for a few extra minutes while a big wig and his wife slowly climbed out of a black car and ambled up the stairs and were seated.

An entire plane load of people were made to wait an extra five minutes so a VIP could pull up and get dropped off. Why Europeans tolerate that is beyond me.

Peoriaman1

How many Americans even knew this issue existed? Before they saw this thread, that is.

I can think of a dozen other things to complain about at the airport but waiting for gate space to open up isn't even on the list.

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

Many major airports in the US aren't set up for remote stand deplaning and busing back to the terminal, or is done only infrequently (and at an additional cost to the airline). The US3 all have banked hubs which concentrates arrivals and departures. Consequently gate space becomes limited and if there's an issue like a late departing flight still on a gate for which an a/c has arrived at least with AA that a/c is forced to wait until that previous a/c departs.

milepig

The OP is considerably uninformed. What is being described is preplanned arrival at actual bus gates with a whole support system of staff, stairs, buses, etc. Not as-hoc remote holding areas. The actual bus gates pretty much don’t exist in the US since we’re built out such that under normal operations all the planes get actual gates.

nmpls

There are some gates at SMF where the front of the plane boards through the jetbridge and the rear uses air stairs. Its mostly used on flights to BUR and LGB where they are all air stair gates (at least for WN).

Also, I would guess the reason US doesn't use many bus gates is my experience is that most US airports have fair more jetbridge spots for airport size than comparable european airports. As such, they aren't expected to use bus gates, not even ULCCs use bus gates here, so they don't have the infastructure. That said, some older airports like LGA have some bus gates, while airports like BUR and LGB are pre-jet bridge and just have you walk a few feet to the airstairs.

Sandeep1

Well said

mecabq

I agree with the larger point about how inefficient ground operations are in general.

In the airline industry, you'd think that every minute counts -- idling planes, missed connections, crew time, and passenger frustration all represent costs -- yet they sure don't act like it.

I know there are a lot of complex factors and stakeholders involved in the process of getting a plane from gate to gate, but it's not rocket science and on the surface it seems they do a poor job managing it. I am not sure what other logisitics-related industries are (shipping ports?) are legitimate comparisons and whether we should expect more efficiency.

beachmouse

And the majority of US flyers hate bus gates at places like Washington National and Miami. Said displeasure has been so vocal that DCA is spending $400 million to get rid of the dread 35X bus gate area in a location where they really have to tetris the new terminal area into a fairly small footprint.

But the bus gates will be gone and there will be much rejoicing with great joy.

FinsToTheLeft

Most (all?) Canadian airports are common use terminals. Certainly at YYZ I know my gate before leaving for the airport.